Type Major | Movement west | |
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Approximate area 43,600,000 km (16,800,000 sq mi) Speed 27–34 mm (1.1–1.3 in)/year Features |
The South American Plate (Dutch: Zuid-Amerikaanse Plaat, French: Plaque Sud-américaine, Portuguese: Placa Sul-Americana, Spanish: Placa Sudamericana) is a tectonic plate which includes the continent of South America and also a sizeable region of the Atlantic Ocean seabed extending eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
![South American Plate South American Plate](https://alchetron.com/cdn/south-american-plate-0e68530d-87e1-4961-a527-939c59ee05b-resize-750.jpg)
The easterly side is a divergent boundary with the African Plate forming the southern part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The southerly side is a complex boundary with the Antarctic Plate and the Scotia Plate. The westerly side is a convergent boundary with the subducting Nazca Plate. The northerly side is a boundary with the Caribbean Plate and the oceanic crust of the North American Plate. At the Chile Triple Junction in Taitato-Tres Montes Peninsula, an oceanic ridge — the Chile Rise — is subducting under the South American plate.
![South American Plate South American Plate AmericasTectonics](https://alchetron.com/cdn/south-american-plate-f8122e5b-815b-4143-91aa-0339daf11a9-resize-750.png)
The South American Plate is in motion. "Parts of the plate boundaries consisting of alternations of relatively short transform fault and spreading ridge segments are represented by a boundary following the general trend." Moving westward away from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The eastward-moving and more dense Nazca Plate is subducting under the western edge of the South American Plate along the Pacific coast of the continent at a rate of 77 mm (3.0 in) per year. This collision of plates is responsible for lifting the massive Andes Mountains and causing the volcanoes which are strewn throughout them.
![South American Plate Episode 1 Geology amp Geography Brazil Culture and History Podcast](https://alchetron.com/cdn/south-american-plate-32e76600-594b-4535-8dcf-1451292c191-resize-750.png)
![South American Plate wwwzetatalkcominfotinfo05qgif](https://alchetron.com/cdn/south-american-plate-970e5520-3898-42b0-8a54-bf3c012276e-resize-750.gif)
![South American Plate South American Plate Wikipedia](https://alchetron.com/cdn/south-american-plate-0c0c095f-2c42-4eb3-b67e-81381ca3d31-resize-750.jpg)
![South American Plate FileSouth American Plate mapfrpng Wikimedia Commons](https://alchetron.com/cdn/south-american-plate-f2598ce9-eac5-4994-844f-d7127573312-resize-750.jpg)